God bless America (and if He could smite down the Iraqis while he's at it, that'd be great).

Not ALL Iraqis, of course. But word is just coming through that Iraqi militants killed an American soldier they have held hostage since early April. He was killed because the U.S. government did not change its policy in Iraq, as demanded by his kidnappers.

I am so, so sad. And pissed. You can't tell me that this guy would have wanted to die over Iraqi policy. He wasn't even fighting for OUR freedom (which is what he signed up to do). So what the hell is the point?

Maybe it hits so close to home because I know so many soldiers, both past and present. Hell, one of my favorite people right now is JD, a current serviceman (who claims that he signed up for the chicks, but I digress. He's still a hero to me). If anything ever happened to him (which is entirely possible, since he's stationed in New York), I would be absolutely devastated. In fact, I'm not sure that he knows how important he IS to me...so if you didn't before, jackass, then you do now.

I'M SO PISSED...and I thank yet another soldier for giving the ultimate sacrifice (though for what, I'm not sure).